The Thirty-Fourth Hunger Games
by hungergamesluv4eva34
Summary: Athena Margelli is entered into the Hunger Games at age 15, and fights for her life to get back home to her family.


**Hi! Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic so it probably stinks, and it's really short, so just read it and then check out my new story on my profile. Thanks!**

**The Thirty Fourth Hunger Games**

**Prologue: **

"Athena Margelli." That's the name Beth Conter, the District 7 escort, called out at the reaping; my name.

I stood on the stage and stared at the crowd. My mom and dad held hands as they silently cried for me. My younger brother, Zack, standing over with the twelve-year old boys, stared at me with sad, wide eyes.

When they called the male tribute's name, I wished with all my heart that it wouldn't be Zach. "Charlie Bentine," Beth called out. I was happy to see that I didn't recognize this scrawny twelve-year old.

"No, Charlie," I heard Zack cry. Then I realized that I did know Charlie; he was Zack's best friend. I felt bad for Zach. He was losing two of the people he cared about in the Games this year. I felt scared and worried, because I knew I had no chance of winning the Hunger Games.

**Chapter 1: The Bloodbath**

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let the thirty-fourth annual Hunger Games begin!" All twenty-four of us sprinted off of our platforms. Some people dashed towards the cornucopia, while others dashed away from it. Me; I ran to the cornucopia. I need those supplies. I don't have any chance of winning anyways. It won't matter if I die right now. I noticed right away what I wanted; a gleaming ax lying on top of a big green bag. I am very familiar with using axes. I come from District 7, lumber. I have known how to throw axes since the age of ten. That bag also looks like it could hold lots of useful supplies.

Right away, I noticed a girl from District 10 had the same idea as me. I dodged the spear she threw at me, and got there first. I grabbed the ax, and thrust it into her stomach. When I felt it reach its mark, I turned away, grabbed the bag, and sprinted away. It looked like I was in luck today. This year's arena was simply a forest, not unlike the ones at home. I ran into the forest, never turning back, and ran for at least another twenty minutes. "I should be deep enough," I told myself. I sat down on a rock, and opened the bag. Inside, I found a sleeping bag, a brown tarp, three bottles of water, a couple packages of dried food, some medicine for minor wounds, and a book with lists of edible and inedible plants and fungi. I was a nice bag of supplies. I could probably live for about three or four days with just this stuff. I decided to wait until tomorrow to eat some food, because I was stuffed from all the capitol food I got before the games started. Just then, a cannon blasted, signaling the end of the bloodbath at the cornucopia. Eight more cannon blasts sounded after that.

I decided that this was a good place to stay for at least a day or two, so I cut down some braches with my ax, and made a small shelter for myself. I heard two more cannon blasts as I worked. By the time I had finished building and camouflaging my shelter, night had fallen. I lied down in my sleeping bag, and watched the stars come out. I must have dozed off, because I awoke to the sound of the Panem Anthem playing. I gazed up at the faces of the dead tributes; both from three, the girl from five, the girl from six, the boy from my district, both from eight, the boy from nine, the girl from ten (my kill), the boy from eleven, and the girl from twelve. As I had expected, none of the careers were dead, and Charlie, from my district, hadn't lasted long. He was only twelve, and not very smart or muscular. I thought I had a better chance than him, being three years older and stronger than him, but my strength will never match the careers'.

Chapter 2: Allies

The next day, I awoke to the sound of a cannon. It looked like it was already about noon.

The lucent sun shone above my head, and brightened the forest. I hadn't eaten anything since I was put in the arena yesterday, so I ripped open a pack of dried fruit, and pulled out a banana. I was about to eat it, when I heard a voice. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you." I whipped around to see a boy, probably about twelve or thirteen years old staring at me from behind a tree. "All of the food supplied in the bags is poisonous. That's how the girl from my district died."

I stared over at him. I didn't think he was lying. "You're District 6, aren't you," I said. I recognized him from the training room.

He nodded and said, "Yes."

"Have you been watching me?" I asked.

"Yes," he said again, "and I was wondering if you'd like to make an alliance."

I thought this over for a few seconds. He didn't look very strong, and he was a bit chubby. But, he had been watching me for a while and hadn't hurt me. He looked like a nice and honest boy. "Do you have any supplies?" I asked him.

"Oh yes," he replied as he pulled some stuff out of his bag. "Let's see," he said, "I've got some fish from the stream about half a mile away from here. Don't worry. They're safe to eat. I've also got a pair of night vision goggles, some water from the stream, a sleeping bag, and two throwing knives."

"Okay," I said. "We can be alliances. I'll pack up all my supplies, and we can move over to a spot near that stream." I took all of the inedible food and water out of the bag, and discarded it on the ground. I rolled up my sleeping bag and the tarp, and placed them in my bag. There was now some extra room in my bag, so I offered to carry the boy's bag.

"Okay," he said. "Thanks."

"By the way, what's your name?" I asked him.

"Robbie," he said. "Yours?"

"Athena."

**Chapter 3: New Camp**

We found a nicely camouflaged spot near the river, hearing another cannon blast as we worked. We set up the sleeping bags under the tarp, and camouflaged the tarp with mud and leaves. I decided we should probably get some more food. "How did you catch those fish?" I asked him.

"Oh it's pretty easy," he replied. "I was just a simple rod made out of sticks and stuff." He showed me how to make it, and we had caught five more fish before night fell. We had to eat these fish raw, because we didn't want to risk starting a fire and attracting attention.

Once the stars had all come out, the Panem Anthem played again. Only three tributes had died today; I must have missed one while I was sleeping. Tonight, the faces of the boy from five, the boy from ten, and the girl from eleven shone in the sky. Once the anthem stopped playing, we lied down in our sleeping bags, placed the tarp over us, and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, I was awakened by Robbie. "Athena," he said. "Athena."

"What?" I muttered groggily.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I heard footsteps a few minutes ago. It sounded like about two or three people."

"Okay," I said. "Well it seems like our camouflage worked."  
"Yeah," he said. "Well, let's get up and start the day." He pulled the tarp off of us, and we then saw the owners of the footsteps; a boy and a girl stood a few feet away from us, spears in hand and ready to fire.

**Chapter 4: More Allies**

"We want to be allies! We want to be allies!" I shouted anxiously. "I don't want anyone to get hurt! Could you please lower your weapons?"

Their weapons didn't move, but the girl's mouth did. "Who are you?" she asked. "We want to know if it's worth making an alliance with you guys. If not, then you die."

"Oh we'd love to make an alliance," I replied. "I'm Athena, District 7, and this is Robbie, District 6. What about you guys?"

"Carlotta, District 9," the girl answered.

"Howie, District 12," the boy answered. "What supplies do you guys have?" We told him of our supplies. "Good, good," he said. He turned to Carlotta. "I think we should make an alliance with these guys," he said. "They seem worthy enough."

"I guess so," Carlotta replied. With us teamed up, we only have to worry about the careers. All six of them are teamed up. They're probably searching for us as we speak."

"Well, do you guys want to camp here tonight?" Robbie asked.

"I guess so," said Carlotta. "There isn't a much better place." They pulled two sleeping bags out of their bag. "We don't have a tarp, though," she said. "Could we share yours?"

"Certainly," I replied. "There's enough room."

We spent the next few hours setting up camp and catching fish. Then, we heard the blast of a cannon, shortly followed by two more.

"They must be killing themselves off, now," said Howie. "Usually they get into fights near the end of the Games, when there are only a few tributes left. It's kind of weird though," he said, "because this is only the third day."

When the anthem played that night, the girl from two and both tributes from four shone in the sky. We all went to bed, leaving us thinking about what we would do next. It was four against three now.

**Chapter 5: Sinkhole **

I woke up the next morning to see the other three still asleep. I wondered whether I should wake them up, but I decided against it. This might be the last sleep they ever get alive. Our food supply was low, so I decided to catch some fish. I had caught about five or six nicely sized ones, when I heard a loud cracking sound, followed by a low, continuous rumbling wound. The noise woke up Robbie, Carlotta, and Howie. "What the heck was that?" Howie asked groggily.

"I don't know," I replied. All of a sudden, the ground around us started to sink. "Run!" I screamed. I grabbed my bag and started running towards the other side of the stream. The others stood up, grabbed their bags, and ran after me. I reached the other side with Howie at my heels, when the ground collapsed, and left a big, bottomless pit. Robbie managed to grab the edge of the pit, so Howie and I pulled him up by the armpits. Carlotta, however, missed the side and plunged into the darkness.

"Carlotta!" Howie shouted, but it was too late to save her. The ground and stream reformed as a cannon fired. We all stood in silence, staring at the place Carlotta disappeared, but we knew we had to move on. None of us were seriously hurt, but Robbie had a large scratch on his cheek from a fallen rock. We moved downstream without speaking. None of us seemed to know what to say. I had no idea where we were going, but I think we were nearing the corner of the arena where the cornucopia stood, and where the tree remaining careers probably were camping.

We continued walking for another hour or so, and I believed we had gotten far enough. "Do you think we should stop?" I asked.

"I guess so," said Robbie, while Howie just nodded. He seemed more affected by Carlotta's death. They had been allies even in the training center. Since our sleeping bags and tarp had been swallowed by the ground, Robbie and I arranged some leaves in a comfy fashion. I collected some water, while Robbie caught some fish. Howie, however, just lied on the ground and stared into space. I hoped he would recover soon.

A couple of hours later, the stars came out, and the anthem played. Carlotta's face was the only one in the sky tonight. The anthem ended as the tears started.

**Chapter 6: Thoughts Unveiled **

At about midday the next day, an announcement rang throughout the arena. "Remaining tributes of the Thirty-Fourth Hunger Games, we would like to invite you to a feast at the cornucopia today in two hours. At the feast, you will find a bag with your district number on it that will contain what you need most to survive in these games. Please consider coming."

I turned to Robbie. "What do you think?" I asked him. "Should we go?"

"I guess so," said Robbie. "I need something for my face." Robbie's scratch had become larger and infected. I tried dabbing some of the medicine I had from my bag onto his cheek, but that only made it worse.

"It must be a fake," I had said. "The gamemakers would find something like that to be funny.

"I guess I'll come too," I said. I didn't think there was anything I needed, though. But I thought again and realized that there was something I did need: cooked food. Raw fish was the only food I had eaten since I was put in the arena. It's tricky to clean a fish, so I expect I've been eating some parts of the fish that I shouldn't. I actually puked a little this morning, and that's probably why, now that I think about it. I haven't gotten any food from my sponsors, though. If my trainer, Spike, thought I'd been eating too much raw fish, he would have sent something. I guess it's just because I probably have no sponsors. It's not like I don't know why. My costume in the chariot ride stunk, I only scored a four on my personal training session, and I had less charm than a squirrel during my interview. I have made it farther in the games than I expected, though. I didn't think I'd be killed in the bloodbath, but I thought I'd be dead within a day or two. I'm still surprised to find myself in day four of the Hunger Games, and the final six.

I turned over to Howie, who had held the same expression on his face since Carlotta had died. "You coming?" I asked him.

"No," he mumbled. That was the first word I had heard him speak in over a day.

Robbie and I set off for the cornucopia, with nothing but my ax and one of his knives. "Do you know which way the cornucopia is?" I asked him.

"I think it's this way," he said, pointing in a direction away from the stream. We walked for about an hour in silence. Then, Robbie broke the ice. "Do you think you can win this?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I replied. "I'm not strong, smart, tough, or anything."

"Yes you are," Robbie said. "I watched you in the training center. I eyed you up because… because you look like my older sister." I could see he was fighting back tears. "I come from a family of five, but it will be a family of one once I die. My mom and dad, they died in a train crash last year. My seventeen year old sister, who looks like you, died of grief the day after I was picked for the games. My trainer told me. My ten year old brother is mentally ill. He hears things we can't hear. He sees things we can't see. My sister was the only one who understood him. He is now an orphan. He's probably watching the Hunger Games right now, without knowing that I'm his brother." He gulped and continued. "I have no family to go back to. I would also be an orphan. That's why I want you to win these Games. I know I can't and I know you can, so I want you to win." Tears poured down his face. I hugged him gently, and I knew why; he reminded me of my younger brother, Zack.

**Chapter 7: The Feast**

We reached the edge of the woods about half an hour later. The cornucopia stood, gleaming in the sunlight in the middle of the clearing. It looked like the feast hadn't started yet, because there was no table or bags near the cornucopia.

I hoped I would survive this "feast". Each year, when they're down to about four or five tributes, they call a feast to get the tributes to clash and fight. It usually narrows down the tributes down to about three. When that happens, they create "natural" disasters to draw the tributes together to fight.

My thoughts were interrupted by laughter. I looked into the clearing and spotted two boys joking around; the careers. The girl from District 1 was nowhere to be seen. The boys sat down in the mouth of the cornucopia and waited for the feast to start. A couple of minutes later, a hovercraft appeared in the sky, and dropped down a table with five bags, for Districts 1, 2, 6, 7, and 12.

The boys strode over to the bags and examined them all. "Those are our bags," Robbie whispered in my ear. "They're snooping through our stuff!"

Suddenly, the girl from District 1 darted out of the trees. She ran up to the table, where the boys were each holding their bags. She attempted to rip the District 1 bag out of the boy's hand. "Give it to me Ryan!" she shouted. "It's mine!" The boys just laughed at her. The girl grabbed a knife out of her pocked and shoved it into Ryan's neck. Blood gushed everywhere, and she collapsed to the ground. The District 2 boy scampered as a cannon blasted. The District 1 girl grabbed the bag, and took off in the opposite direction.

Robbie and I seized our chance. We ran out into the clearing and grabbed our bags. I grabbed Howie's as well. Just as we were about to leave, the District 1 girl darted out of the trees, and headed for us with a menacing look on her face. "Run!" I shouted, and Robbie and I raced in the direction of our camp. The girl, however, was much faster than us and caught up to us pretty quickly. She took out the bloody knife, and tried to stab Robbie, who was much slower than me. "You go, Robbie!" I shouted. "I'll hold her off!" I ran at the girl, my axe held high above my head. We swung at each other at the same time. I managed to hit her shoulder, but the sliced my arm, letting blood flow everywhere. I swung again, lower this time, and struck her on her left leg. She fell to the ground, moaning in pain, and I continued running to our camp.

**Chapter 8: The Chase**

I ran as fast as I could. Terror leaped through me as I tried to find the camp, or at least the stream. Just then, I heard a cannon. I wondered who it was, hoping that it wasn't Howie or Robbie. I figured it was probably the District 1 girl. I hadn't hit her hard enough to kill her, but maybe some sort of natural disaster happened around her. Or, maybe the District 2 boy had found her and gotten his revenge.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted the stream. I walked upstream until I reached our camp; or what was left of our camp. The bags were gone, Robbie was gone, Howie was gone, and a bloody spear lied on the ground. This left me wondering who was dead; Robbie or Howie.

All of a sudden, I noticed a movement to my right. I slowly turned to my right, and spotted the boy from District 2 with throwing knives in his hand. Terrorized, I ran away from the boy. As I ran, I heard knives whiz past me. One knife nicked my ear. I felt it, and noticed it was bleeding. I continued on and felt a knife plunge into my back. I gasped, pulled it out, and kept on sprinting. I needed to fight back. I turned around slightly to see that he only had one knife left. I dodged it, and charged at him. I swung at him with my ax and missed. He grabbed the handle and tore it out of my hands.

"You've got no weapons now, Seven," he said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a machete. "What should I fix first?" he asked. "Your ears or your eyes?" He shoved me against a tree. "I think we'll start with your eyes," he said. "It's best if you can't see what will happen to you."

Just before the point punctured my eyeball, Robbie burst out of the trees. "Oh no you don't," he shouted, plunging a bloody spear into the boy's stomach. The boy collapsed to the ground. "It's not nice when your weapons are used against you, is it?" Robbie said. He pulled to spear out of the boy's stomach and struck again, causing a cannon blast to sound throughout the arena.

Once the hovercraft had come and gone, Robbie and I traveled a little way down the stream, and settled down in a nice spot. We only had the bags we had gotten from the feast, because the District 2 boy had stolen the ones we left at our old camp. I opened up mine to find a bowl of soup, a spoon, some crackers, a slice of buttered bread, and a bottle of water. Wow; I had risked my life for about one or two helpings of food. I split the bread in half, and gave a half to Robbie. I decided to save the rest of the food for the next day.

Robbie found some expensive wound medicine in his bag. He rubbed a generous amount on his cheek, and then handed the container to me for my ear, my arm, and my back. That left very little medicine in the container, but Robbie kept it just in case.

We decided not to open Howie's bag; it would just depress us. I doubted it would be any use to us anyways. All Howie wanted was happiness, so it would probably just be a happy reminder of his home or of Carlotta.

A few minutes later, the Panem Anthem started. Tonight, the sky revealed Howie and the District 2 boy. Only three of us remained in the games, and I believed the girl from District 1 was severely injured. I fell asleep, leaving my thoughts in the night.

**Chapter 9: Silver Rain**

We woke up the next morning and ate the rest of the food. We probably wouldn't eat it anymore, because today would probably be the last day of the games. Right away, I noticed that the pain in my wounds had subsided. I looked over at Robbie, and saw that the cut on his cheek had been reduced to a minor scratch. I now was well nourished, and the physical pain in my body had been greatly reduced. I felt ready to fight the girl from District 1.

I also felt scared. The gamemakers were bound to set something up to get us to fight near the cornucopia. That's how it turns out every year. The three of us will fight until two of us die. That's what the gamemakers enjoy seeing.

I also felt prepared to fight the District 1 girl. She became seriously injured when I fought her yesterday, and I still had my mighty ax. I was not prepared, however, to fight Robbie. I kind of hoped Robbie would be killed by the District 1 girl, so that way one of us would not have to kill the other. This was one of my greatest fears as I walked into possibly the final day of the Hunger Games, and my life. I loved Robbie as if he was my brother, and I was sure he felt the same way about me.

A rumbling storm cloud interrupted my thoughts. "That's probably the gamemakers' way of getting us to come to the cornucopia," I said to Robbie. Sure enough, something started falling from the sky in a couple of minutes. However, the falling objects were not rain, or snow, or hail, or sleet. The falling objects were knives. "Run to the cornucopia!" I yelled to Robbie. It'll be safe there! Grab your bag and hold it above your head so the knives won't hit you!" I didn't shout this warning quick enough. I watched as a knife sliced into his shoulder. He screamed in agony, and pulled the blade out. At least the blade had missed his head. He shoved the knife into his bag and quickly placed the bag above his head.

We ran as fast as we could to the cornucopia. Twice a knife skimmed my nose, and once, my left ear, but nothing too serious happened. I gasped in surprise when I felt a knife thud into my nearly empty bag above my head. When we reached the clearing with the cornucopia, I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted that no knives fell over the clearing, but my spirits dampened when I spotted a perfectly healed, ready to fight, District 1 girl.

**Chapter 10: The Victor**

I glared at the District 1 girl with hatred in my eyes. "Hello, you two," she said in a sarcastic tone. "It's quite a surprise to see the two of you here. I'm Melanie by the way; otherwise known as your killer." She pulled a machete out of her bag.

"Wait a minute," I said. "How are you all healed? I almost killed you with my ax."

"I have sponsors," she replied. "That seems to be something you lack." I held my ax high. "You think you're going to kill me with that thing? On the contrary it is you who will die and your little friend too. Goodbye." She swung at me with the sharp knife. I deflected it with my ax. "Oooh, the little girl knows how to fight," Melanie said. "That doesn't happen a lot. All of a sudden her expression became blank and she fell forward. When she hit the ground, I noticed a knife sticking out of her head. Robbie stood behind her with a menacing grin on his face.

"Boom."

This year's Hunger Games had been reduced down to the final two. Robbie and I looked at each other, expressionless. One of us had to die, and if we didn't do it ourselves, the gamemakers would. Robbie slowly pulled a knife out of his bag. He held it high, and advanced towards me with a scary grin on his face. I didn't blame him. I wanted him to win. I didn't want to live a depressed life as a game mentor. I wanted to live a happy life, a peaceful life, and all I need for that was a knife in the heart.

Just before he reached me, his expression turned to sorrow. "Goodbye, Athena," he said, and he plunged the knife into his own heart before I could stop him.

"No!" I shouted. "Robbie!" But Robbie didn't hear me. He slumped to the ground as a cannon fired.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the victor of the Thirty-Fourth Hunger Games, Athena Margelli from District 7!"

**Epilogue: A New Beginning **

I wished I had died. I wished this over and over during the next few days. I would now live a cursed life, a scarred life. I would now raise the tributes of District 7 for slaughter every year for possibly the rest of my life.

My family was overjoyed at my return. As soon as we saw each other, I knew my future wouldn't be too bad. I would have a nice house in Victor's Village, lots of money, a family, and tons of love. I would also have the memories of the Games. Those brutal memories will never disappear; Robbie stabbing himself, Carlotta disappearing into darkness, the brutalness of the bloodbath. They will live in me forever, until one day, I join those twenty-three tributes in the life of the dead.

**Tribute List:**

**District 1:**

Melanie Loden (17) and Stubb Prescott (18)

**District 2:**

Carleigh Cline (16) and Spartan Cole (17)

**District 3:**

Lassie Trill (13) and Acko Prime (15)

**District 4:**

Shara Holit (17) and Stephan Torka (16)

**District 5:**

Brea Stebbins (14) and Doug Pirthine (13)

**District 6:**

Mary Shay Halcone (12) and Robbie Alcove (13)

**District 7:**

Athena Margelli (15) and Charlie Bentine (12)

**District 8:**

Kody Starlight (17) and Kevin Cedar (14)

**District 9:**

Carlotta Rando (16) and Bartholemew Pliss (13)

**District 10:**

Michelle Yare (16) and Jeff Guth (14)

**District 11:**

Kate Ryleigh (12) and Alpine Throven (16)

**District 12:**

Linsday Harper (16) and Howie Slater (17)

**Fun Facts:**

- Howie's bag from the feast has in it a knife to kill himself with since he is so depressed.

-Athena only killed one person during the Games and it was during the bloodbath.

-Robbie however, killed three people. [D1 girl, D2 boy, and D11 boy (bloodbath)]

-The Games this year lasted 6 days.


End file.
